Religious Poetry and Prose

Possibly the most influential of all English poets, John Donne has left an indelible imprint on the literary world. Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls takes its title from Donne's renowned Meditation 17, and the title of John Gunther's Death Be Not Proud is borrowed from one of Donne's holy sonnets.The poems, sermon selections, prayers, and devotions in this volume, mildly edited for the modern reader by Henry Carrigan, record the poet's struggle to reconcile the passions of the flesh with the demands of the spirit, as well as the poet's exalted love of Christ.